Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. Many people agreed and added that even the best sales meetings are also discussions and not pitches. Both presenters are anonymized.

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pitching VC advice entrepreneurs 288

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

You’ve found a VC partner or principal who has invited you to the Monday partners’ meeting. Information Asymmetry - The biggest problem that presenters face in large (5+ people) is information asymmetry. This is true whether your at a sales meeting or at a VC firm. Congratulations. Does that sound ok?&#.

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advice VC pitching venture capital 318

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2009

Beware of VC Seagulls, who shit on you and then fly away (or worse yet leave you with Red Herrings). I write this post as a warning to pick your VC’s carefully. I like to say to first-time entrepreneurs, picking a VC is more permanent than marriage. I guarantee this is a bad VC. There are many great VCs.

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VC board consulting advice 297

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2009

This is part of my blog series “ Pitching a VC.&#. I’ve sat through a lot of VC pitches and having been CEO of an enterprise software firm for many years I’ve also sat through many customer meetings with sales teams. This happens often and I bet most presenters never realize it.

VC 275

VC peer-to-peer pitching advice 275

StartupNation

JUNE 4, 2025

Discover the secrets to transforming pitch decks into compelling investor magnets, courtesy of seasoned industry professionals. Learn from the best as expert insights illuminate the path to creating presentations that resonate and drive engagement. That order carried more weight than traditional pitch sequencing.

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pitching innovation energy founder 66

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. The short answer is that you should have multiple versions of your “pitch deck” (a short, visual presentation in Keynote, PPT or similar and shared as a PDF) and each occasion has a specific goal. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game.

VC 261

VC pitching advice entrepreneurs 261

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 14, 2014

The main driver of the skew towards men getting venture capital, statistically, is that far more men are pitching. That means you actually have a *better* shot, statistically, of getting VC investment at these firms, statistically, once you actually pitch. Once again, that''s all stats and doesn''t really explain anything.

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founder pitching venture capital mix-use 400

Dream It

MAY 19, 2021

In this Dreamit Dose, Managing Director Adam Dakin presents his view on the right way to answer it after hearing hundreds, if not thousands, of founder pitches. Make the specific amount you are raising and corresponding milestones clear at the beginning of the pitch, and do not give a range.

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pitching board health VC 393

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Your goal should be to turn your VCs into extended members of your team to get real value from them. Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. Ask your VC to send a critical email to a contact.

board 365

board VC advice pitching 365

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know all of this because every VC knows this because we’ve all either funded companies that have marketing technology or we’ve seen a pitch with a company that does this. If you haven’t read the other VC fund-raising posts I’ve done as part of this series you can find the whole outline and this first in the series here.]

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VC pitching strategy investment 239

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

I am a big believer in VC pitches that the bio slide should come up front. The short answer is that by knowing the key members of the management team the VC firm can quickly identify strengths on your time and know whether you have some competitive advantage in your chose field relative to other people with whom you will compete.

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VC advice pitching investment 296

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I have sat through countless pitches with Ivy League grads spewing off intellectual descriptions of the details of their product or service and why it will win in the market. In a VC pitch this type of messaging will do just fine. These messages need to pass the cocktail party pitch. And I think this is a mistake.

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entrepreneurs pitching startup education 370

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

I sit through a lot of presentations. These range from companies pitching me to portfolio companies presenting at board meetings. Each of these scenarios has a team presenting. Some CEO’s are masters at communicating when team members are present. Weave in their pitch to an overall pitch narrative.

pitching 377

pitching VC leadership advice 377

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

I hope you’ll excuse me when I do the latter in combination with the former to try and explain how I see macro trends and help you think about the mind of a VC. Despite working for one of the top 2 talent agencies in LA, despite having had VC experience, Dustin chose another route. I asked him to present to my partners.

investment 303

investment investing VC media 303

TechCrunch

JUNE 22, 2022

Over the past two years, I’ve designed dozens of presentations for a variety of companies at various stages of fundraising — from startup SAFE rounds, to VC rounds and IPOs. Don’t build one presentation, build three. This is your main presentation, and it should be able to stand on its own without a speaker.

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pitching VC opportunity entrepreneurs 91

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

The perverse nature of raising capital is that “no’s” almost always precede “yeses” because it’s very easy for a VC to tell you that you’re not a good fit without doing any real work to evaluate your company so you hear “no” far before others start doing more work. By the end the buyer forgets why they loved your presentation.

pitching 238

pitching VC mix-use entrepreneurs 238

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 15, 2010

Jason started the Open Angel Forum in response to his frustration that entrepreneurs were being charged by some angel organizations to present at their events. Asking young companies with limited capital to pay to present to a group of potential investors is insane. 5 companies presented for 7-8 minutes each followed by Q&A.

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advice angel investing entrepreneurs pitching 254

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2011

years ago we read the “ RIP Good Times &# presentation from Sequoia. Will you get the TechCrunch bump, the tier-1 VC anointment, followed by great PR firm support and then the NY Times or WSJ story that follows? Not every problem has to be a huge VC-fundable business. They pitch me features, not value.

transportation 309

transportation VC networking energy 309

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 9, 2020

If you're in a more privileged position with lots of VC connections to pitch, you’ll either do one of the following things: You'll come right back at me, tell me why and how I'm wrong—because at this point you have nothing to lose.

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founder pitching VC opportunity 299

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Lisa Wu, a partner at Norwest with investments like Calm, Plaid, Opendoor and Grove Collaborative, has a message for founders: Think like a VC during your pitch presentation. After all, accepting capital isn’t simply adding more money to your balance sheet.

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pitching advice collaboration VC 76

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Do I have data or facts to present so the story has legs? ” The ultimate measure of success for a journalist is viewership so if nobody cares about your shitty little company and the story you’re trying to pitch then the journalist doesn’t want to publish. I am a VC. I hand out money.

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mix-use advice VC technology 389

Entrepreneurs' Organization

JULY 16, 2021

Led by Jan Heybroek, the closed, coached conversations facilitate shared experiences around one presenter’s specific business challenge in a deep-dive presentation format. Use these resources to understand how your company will look when you pitch a VC or angel. Business challenge: Scaling a SaaS business.

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SaaS leadership accelerator entrepreneurs 294

TechCrunch

MARCH 29, 2022

Around May 2020, nearly everything moved online, and investment pitches were among the first to do so. However, a majority of VC firms only used an offline approach. It’s impossible for founders to “read the room” when pitching online, which puts them at a severe disadvantage. Why is a teaser so important?

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pitching startup VC capital 91

TechCrunch

APRIL 4, 2023

No founder event would be complete without pitches! TechCrunch editorial is looking for 6-7 founders to take part in a Pitch Deck Teardown. Mastering the Pitch Deck Pitches are critical in the quest for funding and first customers. Without further ado, here are your judges for the TC Early Stage Pitch Deck Teardown.

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pitching real estate founder disruption 85

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. And VC’s are tough customers. I’ve talked before about how to build long-term relationships with VCs.

startup 360

startup VC advice entrepreneurs 360

TechCrunch

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

This was the example business model slide I used for my book “Pitch Perfect.” For the purposes of a funding pitch, however, it’s likely you only need a few crucial elements: COGS, or cost of goods sold, is the incremental cost for each unit you deliver. ” You can see the full template here.

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pitching VC creativity development 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

The value of Pitch Decks; Brad’s personal preferences on deal presentation; and Brad’s practice of accepting cold approaches via email. Are Pitch Decks becoming obsolete? It’s interesting that the question is pitch deck’s being obsolete versus business plans being obsolete. Aren’t pitch decks still the norm? “I

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venture capital pitching communities entrepreneurs 288

TechCrunch

APRIL 25, 2023

But dealmaking is idiosyncratic: a few investors might be content to make a deal over coffee, but early-stage teams still need a sturdy pitch deck or memo they can leave behind. Similarly, one VC may encourage newly minted CEOs to eat ramen and ride the bus, while another might suggest a salary in the low six-figures, depending on geography.

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pitching incubation board opportunity 98

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. For investors life is no different. Year in, year out.

advice 398

advice VC entrepreneurs transportation 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

Detail Orientation / Hands On – One of the easiest ways to rule out people who are pitching to me is when they don’t know the details of their business. I once had a startup team pitch me for an investment where the President of the company led the first call with me on his own. There are easy tell-tale signs.

entrepreneurs 286

entrepreneurs advice pitching VC 286

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MARCH 3, 2021

Monthly sessions share best practices, resources and cover everything from marketing, presentations, ghostwriting, publishing tips, pitching–any and everything related to promoting authors and speakers. My speaking and presentation techniques have improved exponentially as a result.

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education VC pitching support 236

Dream It

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Most VC investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of startup decks and pitches each year. In this article, we’ll outline Managing Partner Steve Barsh’s top 5 things investors wish startup founders knew when reaching out, sending a deck, or pitching a VC. What’s Your Problem? What’s Your Go To Market?

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VC pitching founder strategy 364

TechCrunch

JANUARY 19, 2023

We’re looking for more unique pitch decks to tear down, so if you want to submit your own, here’s how you can do that. It’s remarkably rarely used in VC pitch decks, which I think is a tremendous shame. I reviewed 1,000+ pitch decks. Sadly, the Scrintal deck is a little lacking on that front.

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pitching collaboration creativity VC 88

StartupNation

MAY 24, 2021

Part of this could be the result of the pitch. Since most investors invest in people, not companies, digital presentations often make it difficult for that sparkling personality to come through. While we’ve been strongly supported by our VC backers during the pandemic, the same can’t be said for every startup. Go in warm.

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VC pitching networking venture capital 82

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Who was willing to jump on a plan on a Sunday morning with a hang-over to make sure they were there the night before an important biz dev pitch on a Monday morning. Stuart is well worth following on Twitter & now that’s he’s a VC he is likely to share his wisdom more freely. Writing a book will be fun.

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board VC construction opportunity 320

TechCrunch

APRIL 1, 2022

For decades, there were several blocks where angels and VC partners camped out at café tables, taking pitches between lattes. To cut through the noise, he recommends that founders create a “teaser trailer” to share with their network before they begin approaching angels and VCs. DeWitt, who became a VC after selling Drop, Inc.

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pitching energy VC founder 91

Entrepreneur's Handbook

MARCH 2, 2021

Presenting Startup Summit?—?first will be providing us with “Pitch Tips.” a VC firm that has backed companies like Facebook, Slack, and Hopin (the very platform we’ll be hosting the event). Presenting Startup Summit?—?first first 500 people join us for free Hello hello! Startup Summit ?—?taking What are you waiting for?

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startup entrepreneurship creativity pitching 72